Favela, violence and resistance: the margin on a black creative perspective

Abstract

Alleys of memory is a literary work that dialogues directly with the perspectives of studying marginal sociology, with subaltern and decolonial studies, being an important book to broaden the debate on violence and black protagonism in all areas of human sciences. In the book, the black Brazilian intellectual Conceição Evaristo shows, through a sensitive critical reflection, alternative experiences of weaving resistance, autonomy and acceptance, while denouncing, through theoretical and methodological reflections, the increase in social inequalities caused by the process of desfavelamento. The social relationships woven in different contexts within the favela and in the relationship with the surroundings shape the written narratives of resistance in a particular and complex way of doing and being a favela in Brazil. In each shared experience, the favela becomes dynamic and communal even among the rubble of houses that are thrown down by the process of desfavelamento. Families breathe through the orifices of extensive care networks, ranging from food sharing to collective mourning. It is using the favela as a creative and insurgent place that Evaristo discusses forms of coexistence and production of autonomies networks in a context marked by state violence. Becos brings together experiences that allow us to think about the defense of the common, considering experiences, antagonisms and alliances established in the relations from the most internal to the most external in the constitution of what the favela is.